Finding Mrs.Joe Hill

Over and Out

Continued:

After Joe left his moms house he went over to Kelsey's. His thoughts were scattered from feeling betrayal to upset to angry to depressed and then back around. Through them all though, his head was telling him he couldn't really feel anything more then maybe upset or disappointed. She got pregnant before they were dating, it's not like she cheated on him.

He even felt a little relief, he wasn't responsible, if things go south and don't get better with her. He doesn't have to live with the guilt of abandoning his child and mother of it.

Which took him to his next thought...would she still want to stay with him or go with the baby's actual father? Does he want to stick around and still be with her? So many questions, but only time and conversation will answer them.
———
"Hey...How'd she take it?" Kelsey asked nervously when she opened the door.

"We have to talk." He said firmly and walked passed her.

"Oh...Your scaring me." She closed the door behind him.

"Yeah. Well we gotta talk." He said again not telling her she shouldn't be scared, because frankly...this was big.

"Joe-"

"Let's sit down." He cut her off, going to the couch. She sat beside him and already had tears in her eyes, she probably thinks his mom hates her now.

"Stop crying. Back in April when you went away with your friends you said you slept with some guy."

"Yeah Kevin. He's in the friend group?" She was confused.

"Did you use a condom?" He asked.

"Joe...! What the hell!?" she got mad and stood up crossing her arms. She didn't like how cold he was being with her.

"We used condoms Kelsey! That is not my baby! It's his!" He said and pointed to her belly.

"What do you mean!?" Her eyes welled up, confused and shocked.

"I talked to my mom. You were already like 4 weeks pregnant the first time we had sex." He informed. 

"Well your moms probably wrong!" She defended.

"Kels, call your doctor right now and ask what time frame we would've had to have sex to conceive this child. It's whoever's you slept with that weekend or someone before that!" He told her.

"He was the first person I slept with in months. And it was just once...fuck." She was mad at herself. She got her phone out and googled a couple things, trying to figure it out for herself.
—
After a couple minutes she laid her head in her hands, sad, angry, and panicked. She knew he was right.

"Mhm." Joe didn't have much to say, he was waiting for her to talk as he paced the room.

"It CANNOT be Kevin!" She was processing it in denial. She got up rubbing her neck and face, she was sweating. This couldn't be real. Joe didn't say anything else.

"He's gonna freak the fuck out! He doesn't want kids, he's an immature lazy low life who still lives with his parents!" She said.

"Then he doesn't deserve it." Joe argued.

"What do you mean!?"

"If he's not gonna handle it and take responsibility then he shouldn't even know," He told her, surprising Kelsey.

"You're telling me I should do this all myself!?" She fired back.

"No. Of course not. I'm with you!" He said.

"Oh okay so are you gonna help me bring a child into this world that isn't yours?" She questioned.

"Well the way you talk about the actual father it doesn't seem like you have much of a damn option!"

"It's not your baby!" She argued.

"Okay!? Does the guy even have a fucking job to help out!?" He tested.

"Huh! Screw you!" She was fuming at his dislike towards her guy friend he's never even met.

"He doesn't does he?!" He snapped back. Kelsey couldn't handle all this being thrown at her.

"Why are you acting like this! You didn't fucking want this anyway!" She argued back.

"No I didn't! But I've come to terms!" He told her.

"Well I'm giving you an out now. Your free to go! As if this was actually gonna work out anyway!" She snapped.

"What the hell does that mean!?" Joe was taken back.

"Oh c'mon! Don't act all clueless! You know damn well this was all going downhill ever since that little altercation or shootout, or whatever the hell you call it." She pointed out.

"Yeah it was a little bump in the road I guess but I wasn't ready to give up!" He told her.

"Well I was! Then I found out I was pregnant and had to just suck it up for you, and the baby!" She admitted.

"Why would you suck it up for me?" He asked.

"Because I know your story! I know you wish you would've known your dad and not been kept a secret! Don't you think that would've been a little ironic to do to you too!?" She made a valid point, Joe was at a loss of words. It made him feel good that she thought that way, but lying about her feelings for how long wasn't cool.

"I have to tell Kevin." She said picking up her phone.

"Hold on a second...!" Joe stopped her, his tone changed.

"No stop!" She wanted her phone back.

"Answer one simple question first, please and then you can do whatever the hell you want." He said. She looked at him waiting, her eyes were angry not even being able to look at him long.

"Do you love me?" He asked. Her answer to this would be all he needs to make his decision. She looked away, her eyes got heavy, Joe knew what she was going to say.

"That's not a simple question." She said shaking her head.

"Sure it is. The answer is even simpler. Yes...or no."

"...I don't know." She said with a broken voice. Joe turned around and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" She said crying.

"That's not the answer that makes me want to fight for you." He said and left without another word.

He stopped after shutting the door behind him deep in his thoughts and feelings. It was a wave of pure sadness yet relief. He felt terrible for ending things like this, but he's done fighting, he's tired of this, he never thought he'd have an out but she just gave it to him so he took it.